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Wheelchair Transformed Into Flash Costume for Comic-Con

With some help from an Oregon-based nonprofit, a 10-year-old boy with Spina Bifida was transformed into the Flash for this year's Comic-Con in San Diego. His wheelchair was decked out with huge blinking lightning bolts and splashing waves to show his speed. (Published Monday, July 31, 2017)

With some help from an Oregon-based nonprofit, a 10-year-old boy with Spina Bifida was transformed into the Flash for this year's Comic-Con in San Diego. His wheelchair was decked out with huge blinking lightning bolts and splashing waves to show his speed.

The boy, Kumaka Jensen, is an extreme sports fanatic who can do tricks and backflips with his wheelchair that would put Tony Hawk to shame. This year, he wanted to go to Comic-Con not as a boy in a wheelchair, but as a superhero capable of running at the speed of light.

"They think I'm different than them," Kumaka said. "But my dad said I can do anything other people can do."

Kumaka was the star of the show as he made his entrance to the convention, prompting others at the event to take photos and video of his epic costume.

"We all see disability first, we all see differences ... hopefully they won't," said the designer of the specialized chair, Lior Molcho, about the convention's attendees.

Volunteers from the charity, Magic Wheelchair, have helped build more than 70 epic costumes for children with disabilities across the nation. Some of the wheelchairs cost thousands of dollars and all of the work for the organization is done through donations.

For Kumaka, whose face lit up when he first saw the chair, the nonprofit helped to create his ultimate magical moment.